Chapter 59: Song of the Four Seasons (2)

“…When are you going to wake up, dummy.”

The aide remained unconscious.

Clack.

As the wheelchair moved forward, Byeolhwa, who was pushing it, glanced up and flinched under my glare, quickly looking away with a subdued expression.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Dummy.”

The cumbersome necklace that used to hang around Byeolhwa’s neck had already been removed.

Thanks to my intervention.

Of course, everything was still under Hojoon’s surveillance.

But I had some limited authority I could exercise.

I had gotten used to life in the Bureau.

Aside from the aide not waking up, it almost felt like I had returned to a normal routine.

There hadn’t been any misangche appearances lately, either.

Clank, screeeech—

Opening the doubly locked door—

“Please take care of it.”

“…Yes!”

I closed my eyes and leaned into Byeolhwa’s arms.

And a few moments later, I felt the soft bed beneath me as my body floated through the air.

I’d always been someone who slept a lot, but lately I’d been even drowsier.

Maybe it was because Hojoon had stopped keeping me on edge.

My body relaxed on its own.

…Hojoon.

I couldn’t help but be suspicious.

Had he really revealed all his plans to me?

Was there something he was still hiding?

Still, it was true that his attitude toward me had softened lately.

He seemed gentler, more accommodating than before.

When we were alone, he’d often make these deliberately ambiguous expressions—calm, faintly smiling.

The same kind of expression Ianna used to wear in the past.

Unless I was regressing or mentally drifting, that expression tended to work on him.

Hojoon completely misunderstood me.

“…Janwol-nim.”

My relationship with Byeolhwa had also grown closer recently.

Even though she was the one who had injured the aide, she was now the only one in this place I could truly consider on my side.

For some reason, she had become unusually attached to me.

While avoiding conversation with others, she constantly chattered when it was just the two of us.

Watching her often reminded me of my little sister.

Sometimes it was hard to bear.

I tried hard to forget, to stay focused on surviving the present.

But every time I saw that resemblance to my sisters in her, guilt welled up inside me.

“Um, Janwol-nim….”

“Yeah?”

With a cold look, Byeolhwa sat on the edge of the bed.

“Do you really… forgive Han Hojoon?”

“…Byeolhwa. I’m okay. So… don’t worry about Hojoon so much.”

“Okay….”

It was something she had heard dozens, maybe hundreds of times by now.

Byeolhwa deeply resented Han Hojoon in her heart.

But she no longer expressed that outwardly.

It seemed she had undergone her own internal growth, and I felt proud of her for it.

If what Hojoon said was true, then he had deliberately kept her at arm’s length since childhood.

At the very least, it meant he wasn’t going to kill her himself.

He had acted as if he would kill her many times before, but always stopped short.

That had to mean something.

Byeolhwa had stopped drawing her sword.

She had learned how to control her emotions.

Lately, she hadn’t been using Lemegeton, which meant she was no longer exposed to ether energy.

…Madness.

The way to cast off the magical girl’s long-time companion, madness—

Was to never use their powers again for the rest of their lives.

And—

To die.

‘…’

Could what Hojoon said be true?

Did Ianna really consume a berserk magical girl?

I wanted to meet Ianna face-to-face and ask her.

To return to that summer day when we had met, I closed my eyes and tried to fall into a deep sleep over and over again.

Even when I stepped into that space, full of the scent of grass and the chorus of crickets—

Ianna was no longer there.

‘…No.’

I forced myself to deny it.

Ianna wasn’t dead.

She definitely wasn’t.

“…Janwol-nim, have you been sleeping poorly lately?”

“Yeah….”

It looked like dark circles had settled under my eyes.

Sometimes I fell into terrible nightmares.

Usually when the white teddy bear slipped from my arms, or when Ianna’s memories replayed themselves as twisted scenes.

Every time, I woke up trembling, drenched in cold sweat, trying to calm my shaking limbs.

Ianna’s trauma was nothing light.

“Then, how about we try this?”

With her face slightly flushed, Byeolhwa gently climbed on top of me.

Hovering just above me, she kept herself up with her arms, knees apart.

I felt… a little scared.

“…W-What?”

“I heard from the doctor in the infirmary that sleeping naked helps with deeper sleep.”

“Naked…?”

Now that she mentioned it, I had always slept with clothes on.

I had never slept naked before….

“The place where humans feel the most comfort is their mother’s womb. And when we’re fetuses, we’re all naked, right? So if you sleep naked, it’s like recreating that experience.”

She made it sound so convincing.

Why, then, did she get so shy around everyone else but talk so freely with me?

“…Really?”

“Yes. I’ll undress you, Janwol-nim.”

Still, it sounded plausible.

And it was Byeolhwa—we both trusted each other, so of course she wouldn’t lie.

Not to me.

“Can you raise your arms for me?”

“…Okay.”

I stretched my arms above my head.

My pale armpits and tiny chest were exposed.

‘…Still hasn’t grown at all.’

I thought Ianna’s body was slowly maturing, but apparently not.

Byeolhwa took off my white shirt, then slipped under the covers.

“Huh…?”

[ I’ll take off your underwear too. I covered us so you wouldn’t feel embarrassed while I watched. ]

…Is that so.

That did make sense.

Well, I wasn’t exactly embarrassed.

Ianna and Byeolhwa were both girls, and Ianna’s body was still very small.

There’s no way Byeolhwa would think anything inappropriate.

Obviously.

Just like I trusted Byeolhwa, she trusted me too.

Neither of us would ever do anything to break that trust.

“H-Hyah… that tickles….”

Wherever Byeolhwa touched, my lower body twitched.

It was a little itchy.

All over.

It felt like… my underwear was slowly being pulled down between my legs.

Pink panties with a white teddy bear print.

Someone had insisted on diapers, but I had outright refused.

That would’ve felt like the complete destruction of my last shred of dignity.

Still, the fit wasn’t bad.

Made with advanced materials, they didn’t leak easily, even when wet.

[…Janwol-nim. I’m taking them off slowly. So you won’t be startled. But please… please don’t… do that, okay?]

“I-I would never…! What do you think I am…!!!”

Why did she always pull these weird pranks on me when she couldn’t even speak properly around anyone else?

Above all, being teased about that was the worst.

I could handle being called an orphan, but if someone teased me about wetting myself, I would explode.

It wasn’t even true.

My bladder didn’t fail by choice.

It was the one design flaw in a body precisely engineered to release coolant on time.

My body trembled, eyes narrowing with resolve.

I felt like I could scream loud enough to shake the room.

This wasn’t something a snack or two could make up for.

And then—

“…Didn’t you already take off my underwear?”

Byeolhwa’s hand felt strange.

She was pressing down on my belly.

And then—

I remembered Heosang.

The horrible things he had done.

Smashing my abdomen with his fists. Laughing as he strangled me while I died.

“W-What are you trying to do…?”

Could it be—no, surely not.

Was Byeolhwa—

Like Heosang?

Did she hate me too?

I was terrified.

Unbearably so.

“Aaah!!!”

Dribble dribble—

Byeolhwa leapt out from under the blanket, soaked.

“Janwol-nim!” “D-Don’t touch my stomach….”

“I was doing a pressure massage to help you sleep better! What did you do?!”

“…Sorry.”

When Byeolhwa came closer, I instinctively backed away.

Sitting there with my legs spread wide,

Trembling, staring up at her.

“Haa… I guess I have no choice.”

Byeolhwa started peeling off the soaked clothes, now wet with coolant—and maybe a bit of waste.

Then, she slowly began to approach me again.